BACKGROUND:Yesterday's killing of Daniel Treacy is almost certain to open feuding on a new front, writes CONOR LALLYCrime Correspondent
THE SHOOTING dead yesterday in Limerick of Daniel Treacy, like the infamous gangland violence in the city, was a barbaric act driven by complicated motive.
Mr Treacy’s killing is not linked to the main Limerick gangland feud. However, when one examines the background to the murder some very familiar names emerge.
This story started with a mob killing by gloating thugs four years ago. That fatal attack gave rise to an overwhelming need for revenge that appears to have resulted in yesterday’s shooting dead of an innocent man.
Daniel Treacy was murdered by people who wanted to avenge the death of Limerick teenager Darren Coughlan. He was fatally beaten by a gang on the night of November 4th, 2005.
From Pineview Gardens, Moyross, Coughlan was with friends in a Moyross laneway when a car carrying a number of men pulled up beside them. Coughlan, an 18-year-old apprentice electrician, was surrounded by the men, who mistook him for another man.
He tried to run to safety but slipped on a patch of grass and was kicked and beaten for about 30 seconds. He suffered massive head injuries and died three days later.
Darren Coughlan’s killers were jailed in July 2007.
Joseph Keane (then 19), Greenhills Road, Garryowen, and Richard Treacy (then 19), St Munchin’s Street, St Mary’s Park, were each sentenced to six years in prison. Shane Kelly (then 20), Oliver Plunkett Street, St Mary’s Park, who had 71 previous convictions, was jailed for seven years.
The men smiled and winked at their supporters as they were being led from court in handcuffs.
Joseph Keane and Richard Treacy are cousins. Joseph Keane’s father was murdered drugs gang leader Kieran Keane.
Richard Treacy is a brother of Daniel Treacy, the man shot dead yesterday. A third brother, Owen Treacy, was lucky to survive the January 2003 attack that took Kieran Keane’s life.
Both Kieran Keane and Owen Treacy were abducted by the rival McCarthy-Dundon drugs gang. When the killers shot Kieran Keane in the head their gun jammed, leaving them unable to shoot Owen Treacy. Instead they stabbed him 17 times and left him for dead, alongside Keane’s body, on a remote road in Drombana in rural Co Limerick. Owen Treacy survived and later gave evidence against five members of the McCarthy-Dundon gang, leading to their jailing for life.
When news of Daniel Treacy’s killing broke yesterday many jumped to the conclusion that he had been shot by the McCarthy-Dundon gang in revenge for his brother Owen giving the evidence that put some of the gang away for life.
However, gardaí now believe Daniel Treacy was shot for the sins of Richard Treacy. Detectives believe Richard’s role in kicking and beating Darren Coughlan to death has now come back to haunt his family.
Gardaí investigating Daniel Treacy’s murder are investigating if a close associate of Darren Coughlan decided to carry out yesterday’s murder to “get at” Richard Treacy.
The reason why Daniel Treacy was selected as a target was simple. Richard Treacy is in prison for killing Darren Coughlan and so, for the moment, is out of the reach of anybody looking to avenge Coughlan’s death. Owen Treacy and his father, Philip, have both been under Garda protection since Owen Treacy gave his evidence against the McCarthy-Dundon gang members.
This means killing either of them to get at Richard Treacy would require acting under the noses of the Treacys’ Garda minders.
But Daniel Treacy was an easier target. Because there was no threat against him from the McCarthy-Dundons he was not under Garda protection.
He was shot down yesterday simply to get at his jailed younger brother. The fact he had no involvement in Darren Coughlan’s killing didn’t matter to yesterday’s gunman.
When the three men who killed Darren Coughlan were jailed, the dead man’s mother, Bernadette Coughlan, called for an end to Limerick’s “senseless killings”. It would appear her appeal fell on deaf ears.
Yesterday’s murder is almost certain to open feuding on a new front; between the Keane-Collopy gang and those associates of Darren Coughlan’s suspected of yesterday’s murder. The increasingly complex cycle of gun violence looks set to continue.